CSA/ Farm sharing anyone??

[milkmansdaughter]

Hi All, Upon recommendation, I just starting to look into CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) / Farm sharing. Does anyone here have any experience with CSA? ANY input + or - would be appreciated! Here's a link for more information: www.localharvest.org/CSA/

 

[wyoDreamer]

When we were in Wyoming, we "belonged" to a service called Bountiful Baskets. Not really a CSA - You would go on-line and sign up for a basket (one family bought 4 baskets) and pay a set price per basket. They delivered every 2 weeks. If you were going on vacation and didn't need any fresh produce, you simply didn't order a basket for that week. Same thing if you had a conflict and couldn't pick up your basket on the distribution day. The company would use that money and use it to buy high quality "Local" produce in bulk.

A semi-truck would pull up to the distribution point and unload boxes and boxes of stuff to fill the orders - ours was the local auxillary fire station, they would move the trucks out front and set out rows of white laundry baskets. Volunteers (people who ordered baskets and were willing to help) would evenly split the produce into the baskets. Like 6 bananas per order, 2 heads of romaine, 8 tomatoes, a water melon, 2 bunches of spinach. Any extras were split by the volunteers.

You never knew what you were going to get until the truck showed up and we opened the boxes. DH and I split a box with the neighbors - it worked out well that way. We typically split everything down the middle, but things that they wouldn't use we got and vice-versa. I ended up with almost 6 pounds of plums once - so I made homemade canned plum sauce and gave them some of that. She felt it was a great exchange!

 

[Mini Horses]

A few years back I looked into such "farm income". There are several CSA issues to consider. If you are looking for actual families to sign-up for you to provide or if a local farmers market is you aim -- the market being somewhat more easily achieved & serviced to begin, IMO.

Finding families to participate & your need tp PROVIDE is a challenge. Several markets in my area -- within a decent drive of 1 hr, and they allow you to bring fresh grown that is available. This option lets you produce and sell without the pressures of crop failures as you have no "preset, paid for" to service. In researching what was required to participate in the markets I found that some have VERY stringent requirements to participate. Some required you be there EACH day the market was open, be set up at a PRECISE time, beginning date X to X. Since I was not already doing farming "full-time", it was not possible to provide product say April thru Nov, every Saturday @ 8-1.
There was the thought that I may find a partner to share a space and between 2 farms may be able to share space/time/costs of the site. Some markets were more "just show up" and had far, far less participation from vendors and buyers.

You need to check into your insurance coverage! Both markets and on-site farm have coverage needs for your product & other liabilities. The old days of "joe, sell me a bushel of those green beans" is not what it used to be!! I suppose you have checked into your "cottage industry laws" for your area to sell from farm? Some are weird like they can pick up but, you can't deliver; roadside stand ok, in your home isn't, etc.

I remember that a fresh veg truck used to come thru a neighborhood with farm produce each week or so -- like the old ice cream trucks. Maybe a local business in a well populated housing location would rent you a space each Sat or whatever, to set up a small stand??

You don't say what you are thinking of, your own experience, what area & equipment you have, the anticipated sales area available, your product expected & these all make a difference for you.

 

[Calista]

Thanks for your input!

Did you get the "usual" -- squash, green beans, tomatoes, and such? Shame you don't like kale as I'm sure you know it is quite healthy for you. But, so is fish & I don't eat that!

Oh, yes, lots of the "usual" and generous portions of each, so no complaints there. (Well, except for the hated kale, sneakily painted in yellow-green, white, red, or purple to try to confuse us -- ha, nice try.)

Yes, I wish I'd quizzed them before I signed us up as to their experience and expectations of their customers so I wouldn't have been left with a bad taste in my mouth (them AND the kale).

We'll eat just about any greens or lettuce variety out there and like it but NOT KALE. Could be we were poisoned by well-meaning friends who cooked it until it was bitter and tough, who knows.

And as to fish? Hey, come visit out here and we'll serve you up some mouth-watering baked wild Pacific salmon that will change your mind, if you can just get past the glow-in-the-dark factor from them swimming in the vicinity of Fukushima. (Kidding...)

 

[Beekissed]

In light of all the problems with establishing a CSA, maybe it's time to return to the old fashioned vegetable truck? Around these parts you can see people hawking veggies from the back of trucks all spring and summer, usually what's in season such as ramps, peaches, apples, sweet corn, etc. but I don't see why one couldn't have a variety truck, parked in a participating parking lot~bank, supermarket, fast food restaurant, senior center~ in which you offered whatever was in season, along with your eggs and honey.

I'm betting you could do quite a brisk business if you were faithful to be there on certain days and times. Don't know what kind of vendors license you'd have to have, if any, but it would get you a name in the area before you branched out further into a CSA type business.

If you live close to a town, you may even get to where you have your own greenhouse there and can sell right off your land, so the customers come to you.

 

[tortoise]

DH built a cold room last year. Now we have space to keep produce refrigerated. CSA feels like too much commitment, but I think we could sell assorted produce boxes quickly through FB Marketplace or Craigslist. Trouble is finding time, energy, and good health to keep a garden going.

 

[tortoise]

I'm also toying around with the idea of a tulip bulb business. A cool room is necessary for storing and forcing bulbs. Tulips seem to have more potential ways to sell, and the physical work isnt during the months that are worst for me. Plus, theyre hardy in my zone so if worst case scenario and I cant dig the bulbs they will be alive and grow the next spring. Sell bulbs, divisions, bulbs, pre-chilled bulbs for forcing, or potted forced bulbs.

 

[wyoDreamer]

We have a "farmer" down the road that does CSA - he rents his fields out to the Mong for them to garden. They grow it, he buys it from them and then sells it in the CSA boxes. He said the hardest part is finding someone with enough of something to put in the boxes. Right now, he sells mainly to people in the city areas, most of his boxes end up in his neighborhood where he lives, which is about 20 miles away from his farmstead. I am not sure if he has relatives in the farmhouse or if he is renting that out.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Thank you Mini! Up until yesterday, I never heard of a CSA, though I'm quite familiar with farmer's markets. I just recently moved from Wisconsin to Alabama (not for the first time), and we're just starting to look at future options. We've only had this property since October (but our son and I just got here in late June).
What we have: 2 plus acres plus another acre of land we can use, 2 black walnut trees, multiple pecan trees, 2 Asian pear trees, an old neglected apple tree, 3 newly planted lime trees (various kinds), a newly planted peach tree, and an olive tree. We have several wildly overgrown but flourishing grape vines (mostly native scupernongs and muscadine) and a fig tree, a 2 1/2 stall shop, and a gardening shed. We have lots of ideas, a desire to learn, and a lifelong habit of working hard. We also have many old flowers, flowering bushes, honeysuckle, and hummingbirds. I have a farming/dairy/4-H/ small animals background, and my husband is an ideas guy. He's great at researching, and DIY projects. He's a Jack-off-all-trades with a tendency to make friends with people from all walks of life (which, btw, is how we ended up with chickens so soon). We have a tendency to jump into a project and learn as we go.
We've added 16 (various) blueberry bushes, 6 blackberry, and 15 chickens, a large garden, a worm farm, an herb bed, and a compost pile (plus the new trees), and many saws, and tools for woodworking and building.
Future plans are strawberries, bees, rabbits, and possibly a tilapia tank, a green house, worms and crickets (so far), and another (big) dog or two.
This year's projects have been to get the chickens and blueberries started, compost pile, pruning and rehabbing old fruit and nut trees, and identifying what's already growing here. The second big project is adding many more plants and flowers for pollinators, (and for pest control!) and possibly some alfalfa or other plants to supplement food for chickens, rabbits, bees, etc.
We've bounced all over the country. This is where we are hoping to finally sink our roots (literally and figuratively). My husband can hopefully retire early in about 2 years, and we're hoping to have this place starting to earn it's own keep by then.
As far as I can tell, the closest CSA to where we live is almost 80 miles away, but it's definitely someplace we can research and visit. That might mean we have either a handicap or a big opportunity here. Right now I'm in the research stage.
Thank you, sincerely, for your detailed answer. It will give us avenues to research and questions to ask.

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]